Kingdom of Lykofos (The)
History The Royal Colors On the kingdom's flag lies the coat-of-arms of the five families that formed the first alliance to unite the warring factions of Lykofos. Adorned with golden eagles to represent the personal heraldry of King Alphonse the First (Also shown at the very center of the coat-of-arms grouping), the Royal Colors have remained unchanged, and shall continued to be so, for the rest of time. Government Formation The entirety of the kingdom is indisputably ruled by the King. Different families can marry into the Royal Family, and as per Lykofian culture, if the only existing heir or ruler just so happens to be a lady, a family can establish themselves as the new Royal Family by simply getting one of their own to marry her. The current line is dominated by the Antiochs, who have held the royal position for quite some time now. The Royal Court is effectively a counsel of advisers for the King, having no real power on his decisions. Made up of the territory family heads, the Royal Court reviews major decisions by the King. They have no actual deciding power other than their own persuasive skills, it should be noted. Society-wise, the entirety of Lykofos is divided into a number of districts called 'territories' based of feudalistic customs. Each is owned by a single noble family who have complete and utter control over their individual territories. The people who live on these territories, called peasants, effectively rent these plots. Whatever produce they make through work or interior trade, is taxed by a planet-wide standard tax which is payed to the territory's owning family. Isolationism Lykofians are racist. That's just how it is. While being human, their distinctive pallid skin and colored hair have been honed down to their very genes, causing the people to consider themselves as being apart (And above, in most cases) to fellow humans and other races. It should be noted that immigration to Lykofos is impossible. There is no system build for it and it is completely and utterly restricted that a foreigner remain on their planet for any extended/permanent amount of time. This issue has been largely left without coverage by Lykofos' neighbors, who are just small enough that a deceleration of war or even a decrease in trade would be most destructive. This does, however, stem from the fact that Lykofian society lacks a class for immigrants. One is either a peasant or a noble. Nobles can entertain or take in 'honored guests,' which has sparked some interesting variety in the different noble families on the planet as foreigners who have an honest, close connection with a particular noble can enjoy the midnight paradise that is the Lykofian noble life. Technology Lykofians, despite their isolationist policies have some of the finest technology in the galaxy thanks to their incredible wealth. From medical to food to music to weaponry, the Lykofians have crafted some of the finest technological marvels that exist. Yet, this technology is kept solely for Lykofian use. They do, however, like to sell, but they only release simpler versions of what they use, more than a little aware that equipping your potential enemy with the same toys is never a good idea. Their paranoia goes further than dinner parties. In context, the Lykofian peasant populace seems downtrodden and oppressed, though the Kingdom has cleverly used technology to keep them happy. In a very odd way, Lykofian peasants enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the galaxy while simultaneously having some of the worst political rights. While cloning technology is valued across the galaxy and the Kingdom of Lykofos is more than capable of achieving its creation, Lykofian society abhors it. Legacy and the character of an individual is held quite high, even for the miserable peasantry. To endlessly spawn would defeat such an end, and to have morphed test-tubes running around even to fill in as peasantry or grunts disturbs all involved. It simply isn't proper. Rather, Lykofians resort to simple AI combat machines, though it should be stressed that they are simple. Notably stupid in some aspects, the ever paranoid inventors and scientists that slave away under estate houses are more than aware that a smart robot is a dangerous robot, and have developed a number of models for simple manual labor. Their expanse into the military sphere is still under much debate and the current king has not yet passed judgement given the level of controversy over the matter. 'Military' Given its small population size and precarious position in space, military servitude is required for all. The limits of time vary for the nobles and peasants: A peasant can expect to be partially on-duty for the bulk of his or her life. Service is viewed very romantically by both, and many are caught up in the thrill of it which goads them into pursuing a professional career; a feature the Lykofian military has made itself known for. It's certainly plausible given that they really only butt heads with pirates and raiders. The Lykofos military is one of the most advanced in the galaxy, boasting highly trained infantry and the best weapons the galaxy has to offer. However, it is also one of the smallest, and mostly employed in the fashion of military police given the lack of a need to fight. The Lykofos military is divided into overseer branches that cover the army, navy, and space-force. Despite this, the infantry are trained in the army and equipped to operate in all branches before being divided and deployed in each. The infantry are simply and appropriately named Fusiliers. Training Unlike traditional militaries, the Lykofian Fusilier is literally trained for everything. They are not only adept infantry, but excellent in vehicular and space combat as well, be it in a dog-fighter or commanding a capital ship. There are, obviously, dedicated roles taken by specific men and women, but should a technician or pilot be killed or incapacitated, any of the other grunts can easily fill the vacuum and carry on the fight. 'Universal Ranking' Given the versatility of the military, there is one core ranking structure that applies to all the branches. They go as follows (With the naval counterpart separated by a slash unless they are called the same thing): *Grand Marshal/Admiral *Brigadier/Commodore *Major *Captain *Lieutenant *Sergeant/Colonel (Petty) *Ensign/Cadet First Class (Line) *Trooper/Cadet (Line) Ranks are determined by diamond pins, but only to officer ranks. Petty officers simply have one diamond pin. A Lieutenant has two, a Captain has three, a Major has four, and so on. The pins are placed at the top-most corner of the left collar. It should be noted that all officer ranks above petty are exclusive to those of noble blood. Given the multitude of noble families and the intricate network of marriages, the few officers needed for the army are certainly in stock. After much debate a law was passed requiring every noble of age to attend the military academy and actively serve for two years. While dismal at first, many people soon realized there was hardly any risk in service except for those who served abroad in the navy. 'Uniforms and equipment' Uniforms Fusiliers are clad in cloth great-coats lined with a reactive material that doubles as a flak jacket and a personal heating/cooling thermal device. Underneath they wear a simple though surprisingly long-lasting and comfortable button-up uniform shirt. The men wear tights, while women simply wear a skirt. Both then don gel interior-lined combat boots that shape to their wearer’s feet and legs, allowing for a surprising amount of mobility despite their cumbersome appearance. To top it all off, a tri-cornered hat hewn from a felt-like material that is famous for being nearly bullet-proof and more effective than a common infantry helmet is donned. Low-ranking officers wear similar uniforms, though the jacket is hewn in red and their tricorn is donned with a red feather. Major officers wear white coats with white feathers. The Personal Shielding Device (PSD) Lykofian uniforms are hardly up to competent standards in their normal appearance, but like their weapons, Lykofian tech picks up the slack. The PSD is an energy-bound device that emits an energy field that extends roughly one solid foot from all angles of the user's body. Obviously it uses energy to deflect incoming projectiles at a specific velocity, making it generally useless in melee unless the weapon gives off a strong energy emition. The PSD can deplete itself in a rather mediocer window of time, though can be manually recharged by slotting in a new power-cell or left to recharge over the course of, for Fusilier -issue PSDs, approximately twenty minutes of inactive use. Armament Lykofian Fusiliers are armed with a single weapon. Effectively a semi-automatic plasma rifle, the Lykofian Carabine-model series rifles are one of the most powerful weapons in the galaxy. Varying in design and length for different deployments, its effectiveness is also combined with versatility. Fusiliers are additionally equipped with bayonets hewn from a surprisingly potent material, capable of puncturing anything from flak jackets to medium carapace to deal with most threats. It worst comes to worst, the fine reinforced oak build makes for a suitable club against unprotected heads. In addition to bayonets, infantry and officers alike also carry saber side-arms made of the same material and used to deadly effect. Officers are equipped with Carabine pistol models, which are simply extremely compact pistol-variants of Carabine rifles. Also nicknamed 'Lykofian dueling pistols' for their more renowned function, Lykofian officers of every type utilize a variety of these generally customized weapons in combination with single-edged sabers made of the same armor-piercing material as infantry bayonets. 'The Royal Fleet' The Lykofian fleet is famed for its terrifying effectiveness against raiders and pirates of all sorts, making their trading lanes some of the safest in space. But you wouldn't think that from seeing one of their ships. Incredibly power solar technology and, effectively, a massive version of the PSD makes for a seemingly fragile ship that's actually quite fast and well-defended thanks to hull material that's a good tier over that of most neighbors. The incredible myriad of offensive firepower even the smallest ships have to offer make them capable of fending off or out-right disabling enemy craft twice their size. 'Armored Warfare' 5-man gunboats in a variety of variants, effectively super miniaturized versions of their space-bound ships, serve as ground/air support vehicles with variants for carrying fire-teams. Obviously this shapes their tactics into rapid attack/deployment, further branching out into wide-spread hit-and-run or utter blitzkreig-style warfare depending on the situation. HMVs are obviously good support for this sort of thing. Lykofian models tend to be smaller than most, as they are used as infantry support more than anything else. Nevertheless, they still boast weaponry that's high in armor penetration and strength, keeping them on par with its neighbors. Gallery Dragoons.png|A pair of minor Lykofian officers. Officers.png|Off-world models displaying the Lykofian noble officer's uniform. Category:Factions